Trying Something New

[KennethSime]

I must say I really am unaware of the first idea and sounds terribly artificial.

As to the second idea, you are not wrong and I fear that it’s been interpreted over time, by many on this website, to what you say it is. It is true that the traditional end result is that the intention is that nothing should match, what has been lost overtime here is that no effort or thought is used whilst achieving that. Should a match occur then no one worries too much.

When I see a picture of myself wearing the kilt I am quite often surprised at my colour choices as I give no conscious thought about them when I put them on! Also, depending on one’s tartan this idea of matching one’s hose, or shirt, or tie to the yellow stripe, for example, of one’s tartan is never a conscious thought. Actually with my tartan, MacLeod of Harris, with its five colours it is very difficult not to end up with something matching. So, why stress over it? Rules? Well, well not really it’s more subtle than that. Intentions? Oh yes, for sure.

I hear you, Jock. To be clear, I was not defending the first rule - simply pointing it out.

Here's a great example of the two, compared:



I pulled this straight from the House of Edgar website. Note the man in the middle, matching his hose to his jacket, while the others display a bit more variety in their color palettes.

[Jock Scot]

I hear you, Jock. To be clear, I was not defending the first rule - simply pointing it out.

Here's a great example of the two, compared:



I pulled this straight from the Hose of Edgar website. Note the man in the middle, matching his hose to his jacket, while the others display a bit more variety in their color palettes.

I am afraid I don't necessarily regard pictures advertising on a website as a guide to what is or, isn't, generally worn out in the Highlands of Scotland. I have usually found that these kind of pictures do not place one on firm ground when making attire decisions. Granted I have not been out and about as much over the last year or so, for obvious reasons, but thus far I have not seen the likes of your picture, particularly the character in the centre, around and about in the wild yet. Until we do see that style in the wild in greater numbers I will not regard it as anything other than advertising.I hasten to add its not wrong to dress like that if one wants to, but for sure, its not a general practice.

[MichiganKyle]

Here's a great example of the two, compared:



I pulled this straight from the House of Edgar website. Note the man in the middle, matching his hose to his jacket, while the others display a bit more variety in their color palettes.

So, as someone relatively new to kilts (only about a year and a half at this point) and with almost no fashion sense, my $0.02 which isn't even worth that:

I tend to be of the opinion that too low of contrast between hose, kilt, and shirt/jacket (anything upper) tends to make them blend together quite a bit and reduce the impact substantially. In some cases it makes the whole outfit look like a dress from a distance, as I would tend to think might happen with both the center guy and the guy on the right. Instead, if I do match hose, I tend to match/contrast hose with one particular smaller element of the tartan to highlight the opposite color in the kilt - brown with Holyrood, for example, to highlight Holyrood's more prominent overall blue colors. Or a lot of the time I'll just not match at all and go with a neutral color like oatmeal, dark gray, or black. Sometimes I'll match flashes to something else, other times I'll just try to contrast the hose. But above all else, I also make sure there's enough contrast between especially shirt/jacket and kilt colors that it's very clear they're separate. I would not want to wear a green shirt with Ireland's National or a red shirt with Celtic Nations. There just wouldn't be enough contrast to highlight the kilt well.

Again, this is coming from someone with no fashion sense, so take that with a grain of salt. Just my opinion and nothing more. But that's kind of how I think about it.

[KennethSime]

So, as someone relatively new to kilts (only about a year and a half at this point) and with almost no fashion sense, my $0.02 which isn't even worth that:

Sometimes I'll match flashes to something else, other times I'll just try to contrast the hose. But above all else, I also make sure there's enough contrast between especially shirt/jacket and kilt colors that it's very clear they're separate. I would not want to wear a green shirt with Ireland's National or a red shirt with Celtic Nations. There just wouldn't be enough contrast to highlight the kilt well.

Again, this is coming from someone with no fashion sense, so take that with a grain of salt. Just my opinion and nothing more. But that's kind of how I think about it.

Kyle, I definitely appreciate your input here on the forums - I take a similar approach. Personally, matching my neck tie and my flashes is about the matchiest think I like to do.

[Jock Scot]

Crikey! You chaps really do make hard work of getting dressed!

[MichiganKyle]

Crikey! You chaps really do make hard work of getting dressed!

For me personally at least, a lot of it comes from the fact that kilts are quite rare here in the USA. This results in a few different factors:

1. To a certain extent, it's easier to stick with "normal" fashion norms so as to make the kilt look like a respectable outfit choice and not a costume. Like it or not, there's a strong tendency toward matching colors in normal clothing here. In an area where kilts are rare, it's much easier for someone to look at an outfit that doesn't at least somewhat conform to normal color matching guidance and think "that guy has no fashion sense, kilts are for weirdos" than to realize that it might be the norm for a kilt.
2. It's much easier for people to see something they're used to than something unfamiliar. So, from a distance, if an outfit looks like a dress, it's probably safer to assume it's a dress than to think "oh, that's a guy, it's probably some other piece of clothing I've never seen in person before".
3. In my opinion, it reduces the perceived barrier to entry for others interested in kilts if they can reuse some of the rules they know in completely unfamiliar territory. Sometimes too much choice is intimidating, especially for guys like myself with no fashion sense.
4. You get an awful lot of attention just wearing a kilt at all. I don't like the idea of drawing more of it by looking garish and standing out even more from the crowd.

So it's out of respect for both the kilt, myself, and the comfort of those around me that I try to stick to a few basic "blend in with the normies" guidelines.

[MichiganKyle]

Sorry to double-post here, but I do want to clarify: these are issues that are likely only applicable to places where kilts are not commonly worn or encountered. Many folks around where I live will have never seen a kilt in person in their entire lives, which brings some additional constraints on what's expected. So these are not universal, but just things I've noticed that I've tried to work around the best I can. YMMV

[Jock Scot]

Sorry to double-post here, but I do want to clarify: these are issues that are likely only applicable to places where kilts are not commonly worn or encountered. Many folks around where I live will have never seen a kilt in person in their entire lives, which brings some additional constraints on what's expected. So these are not universal, but just things I've noticed that I've tried to work around the best I can. YMMV

I have never understood this stance. So with the greatest of respect and with a slice of humour. You wear the kilt quite happily in a country and area where kilts are not "commonly worn or encountered" and in doing so you raise your presence to almost wearing a whole host of neon lights! Yet in the same breath you balk at not matching your tie to your hose. In comparison to the "neon kilt", surely not matching minor bits of attire is hardly even a light bulb's worth. I understand this is how you and others on this website really do think, but understand it? No I don't!

[MichiganKyle]

I have never understood this stance. So with the greatest of respect and with a slice of humour. You wear the kilt quite happily in a country and area where kilts are not "commonly worn or encountered" and in doing so you raise your presence to almost wearing a whole host of neon lights! Yet in the same breath you balk at not matching your tie to your hose. In comparison to the "neon kilt", surely not matching minor bits of attire is hardly even a light bulb's worth. I understand this is how you and others on this website really do think, but understand it? No I don't!

Fair point. But I wear kilts because I like them. They're an incredibly practical garment and in my mind superior to bifurcated garments for men in many/most situations encountered in daily life. Even before I got into wearing them, I've always admired their practicality. As such, my goal in wearing them is not to just stick out from the crowd for the sake of attention, it is to wear a garment I like.

To further explain, see:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...nd-wear-96972/

There were several comments made that some of the outfits looked "theatrical". Why? That may be the case where familiarity with more typical THCD is well-known. But to an untrained eye which has only seen kilts in movies and TV, it wouldn't look any more unusual than THCD. Bright white hose would not raise eyebrows at all here, because very few people would know any better and they've seen that enough in media for it to be normalized. There's a cultural context there that I feel is missing in the USA. By the same token, "matchy matchy" is a very widespread doctrine here, to the point where I've seen violation of it in movies and TV used to indicate to viewers that a character is either (a) a nerd, (b) a single guy with no fashion sense who is obviously single because otherwise his SO would have corrected him, (c) quirky, or (d) all of the above. It's hammered into your head from an early age - how can you even think of going to church in brown shoes when you're wearing a black belt!? Who in their right mind would wear a tie like that? Egad, why would you choose brown socks with that? Et cetera. For one thing, this makes thinking outside of that box really difficult. For another, violation of that is so common knowledge that it very well could take your outfit from "quirky, but well put-together" to "no idea how to dress himself, and also why is he wearing a kilt" territory.

It may be somewhat of an Americanized take on it - I mean, blending multiple cultures and cultural practices is one of the things we do quite often. But for me, it's a nice middle-ground between wearing the garment I love and showing that it can still function in American society. Sure, it's a blend, and it may be more complicated than it needs to be if those rules weren't there for other clothes or people were more familiar with THCD. But it's far more comfortable for me to be able to reuse some of those rules than to be adventurous and try to think about "how far can I push the envelope without looking like a dork" every time I get dressed.

[Jock Scot]

Fair point. But I wear kilts because I like them. They're an incredibly practical garment and in my mind superior to bifurcated garments for men in many/most situations encountered in daily life. Even before I got into wearing them, I've always admired their practicality. As such, my goal in wearing them is not to just stick out from the crowd for the sake of attention, it is to wear a garment I like.

To further explain, see:

http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...nd-wear-96972/

There were several comments made that some of the outfits looked "theatrical". Why? That may be the case where familiarity with more typical THCD is well-known. But to an untrained eye which has only seen kilts in movies and TV, it wouldn't look any more unusual than THCD. Bright white hose would not raise eyebrows at all here, because very few people would know any better and they've seen that enough in media for it to be normalized. There's a cultural context there that I feel is missing in the USA. By the same token, "matchy matchy" is a very widespread doctrine here, to the point where I've seen violation of it in movies and TV used to indicate to viewers that a character is either (a) a nerd, (b) a single guy with no fashion sense who is obviously single because otherwise his SO would have corrected him, (c) quirky, or (d) all of the above. It's hammered into your head from an early age - how can you even think of going to church in brown shoes when you're wearing a black belt!? Who in their right mind would wear a tie like that? Egad, why would you choose brown socks with that? Et cetera. For one thing, this makes thinking outside of that box really difficult. For another, violation of that is so common knowledge that it very well could take your outfit from "quirky, but well put-together" to "no idea how to dress himself, and also why is he wearing a kilt" territory.

It may be somewhat of an Americanized take on it - I mean, blending multiple cultures and cultural practices is one of the things we do quite often. But for me, it's a nice middle-ground between wearing the garment I love and showing that it can still function in American society. Sure, it's a blend, and it may be more complicated than it needs to be if those rules weren't there for other clothes or people were more familiar with THCD. But it's far more comfortable for me to be able to reuse some of those rules than to be adventurous and try to think about "how far can I push the envelope without looking like a dork" every time I get dressed.

I would have thought that it might be just the opportunity to educate some of your countrymen, that there are other ways of looking at things, minor cultural things such as how the Highland Scots dress in their kilts. You have a tremendous resource to refer to, here on this website. It may take a while to entice them--------alright some of them---- to take an interest, but you dressed in the kilt will gain their interest of some before long.Particularly if you are attired in your kilt correctly.

In truth that is one of the reasons why I contribute to this website. I tire of seeing the kilt being worn so enthusiastically by visitors and them getting it sometimes, too often actually, oh so wrong.